Author's note: Do not worry about the timelines. This is a huge crossover - the timespace continuum has been shattered, so just enjoy the ride and references.
In a Cruel DawnChapter 1: Awakening
The world was a groggy mess. She blinked, eyes dry and hard to focus. The only thing she could see was a beautiful light, shining down on her in a blur. Drawing in air, she smelled dust and a sharp sting of sweat.
Disoriented… the smell was like an old, closed off room but then what was that light…?
"Your Highness?"
It was an old woman's voice, uncertain and reverent.
"Princess?"
That was a young man, tired, relieved.
The three words dug into her mind like icy daggers, piercing the grogginess. Nobody should know that about her!
Startled, she pushed herself up. Fire raced down her arms and she fell backwards – but there was the sound of someone lunging forward, and damp, warm hands grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
Vision still refusing to focus, she stared up through a colored mist. Green, so beautifully green. He… it had to be…
Then she remembered his broken body beneath a huge, dark paw, and how she couldn't tell her own scream from Navi's.
Impossible.
"Link?"
She meant to say it, but only a whispering croak left her dry throat.
"Water, quick!" a young woman's voice commanded.
There was the sound of running feet, a hollow splash of liquid poured into a cup or glass, and a reddish blur moved up beside the green one. A second later she felt a cool, rounded rim pressed against her lower lip. Water flowed into her mouth, sweet on her parched tongue. She nearly choked in her haste to swallow, her throat dry and unresponsive at first. It felt like the first mouthful took forever, but the next was much easier.
Life flooded back into her stiff limbs, and she could see again.
Kind blue eyes gazed down at her, set in a handsome face framed by unruly hair. A long, green cap just barely kept his fringe out of his eyes. He was dirty, and sweat glistened on his brow. Wherever he had been before this, he had rushed here with everything he had.
But it was all wrong.
It wasn't Link. His clothes were similar, that was all. The eyes were not as blue, the nose and cheek bones different, and his hair was brown, not a sandy blond.
An imposter? But why? Panic struck and died in the same instant – it made no sense. Nothing made sense.
"Where… what?" she croaked.
He who was not Link helped her sit up straighter, leaning against his arm. A movement beside him drew her gaze that way, and she saw an old woman wearing a red brown cloak standing there with a half-full glass of water in hand.
"You are in Hyrule castle, Your Highness," the old crone gently said, stroking a strand of long white hair away from her face.
Bewilderment bloomed to roaring confusion. Zelda shook her head, mind spinning. That was impossible. The castle had crumbled to ruin, she had fled, with… with…
Fire screaming nonono not like this it wasn't supposed to LAUGHTER OH GODDESSES NO PLEASE NO
Nausea roiled in her stomach and she cast her gaze around, seeking something familiar to hold on to. But there was nothing – the room was foreign to her. Columns created a passageway from the door towards her current position, heavy red cloth draped between them. With a start she realized that she sat on a stone slab atop a set of marble stairs. Unease made her throat dry up, stirring a foggy memory. It looked too much like a temple, and a sacrificial altar.
But it was light, and there were only kind faces around her. Fighting the dizziness, she did a second take. That was when she noticed the woman by the foot of the stairs. She said nothing, only studied the scene above. She wore a simple crown atop her strawberry blonde hair, and her pale dress was emblazoned with the royal crest of Hyrule. Zelda's heart lurched.
"You must be so confused, Your Highness," the old woman said.
Zelda could only nod, numb and mute.
"Let us begin slowly," the crone said. "Do you know who you are?"
"I'm…"
She had to clear her throat. At least she knew one thing for certain, and she clung to it like a lifeline.
"… I'm Princess Zelda."
All of the three strangers visibly relaxed.
"I am so glad. So glad…" The old woman's voice cracked and she paused, wiping her eyes with her long sleeve. "How do you feel?"
Everything hurt. She tried to flex her fingers, her feet. Though rigid and hesitant, they obeyed. She could hear and feel every bone pop, trying to find its right place within her body as the muscles struggled to do what she wanted them to.
"I feel… like I've slept for years."
She shuddered, a memory fluttering again, just out of reach. She saw the others exchange glances, and premonition bubbled up like a sickening brew in her stomach.
"I…" She had to stop to breathe and wet her lips. "I have… haven't I?"
Silence. Finally, it was the old woman who spoke again, gently as if she feared Zelda would crumble to dust at the words.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"How long?" She didn't really want to know, but she had to.
"About two hundred years."
The room spun around, Zelda clutched the edge of the altar, digging the hard stone into her palms to steady herself. The young man silently squeezed her shoulder, so light that it was neigh impossible to notice.
"Your Highness…" the old woman said.
"A moment, please." Zelda pinched her eyes shut and took in a few breaths.
When she looked up again her eyes automatically sought the man beside her. So achingly familiar and yet so painfully wrong.
He must have seen something in her eyes, because he pulled his hands away as if burned.
"Ah, yes, I… uhm…" he mumbled. "Sorry."
Shutting his mouth, he sunk down on one knee before her. There was a strange stiffness to it, like it didn't feel natural for him to do such a thing. Then again, she had not seen anybody do so for her since she was a child, and barely even then as people had knelt to her father, not to her.
Those thoughts were weak and fluttering in her mind. Only one thing mattered, though she had to force it out of her mouth.
"Who are you?" But she already knew.
He didn't raise his bowed head.
"My name is Link, Your Highness."
She could only nod. A chill spread throughout her body, and she looked at the old woman in search of something to distract her.
"Impa, Your Highness," the crone said in a soft tone.
For a moment Zelda searched her features, a flare of mad hope sparking up – the coincidence must mean something. But of course it was impossible. There was nothing of her Impa in this woman's face or movements.
With nothing left, Zelda turned her eyes down the stair, towards the young woman. In the gaze that met hers, she could see a reflection of her own tumultuous emotions.
She didn't even need to ask.
"I'm Queen Zelda. We have common ancestors."
Zelda had to press both hands to her head, in a desperate attempt to stop everything from spinning. She had to look at anything else but those living reflections, and turned her face up in a wordless prayer for the nightmare to stop.
That was when she finally saw the three golden triangles hovering above her. Lazily spinning in the air, illuminating the entire room with a wondrous light.
The Triforce.
Afterwards, she could never quite remember those first few days. She vaguely recalled hazy hours all muddled up, strung together by Impa's gentle voice urging her to eat or sleep. At some point early on she was presented with a room and new clothes as she only had her one dress – but she would not have made use of anything without the old woman's guidance.
The very first thing she could recall clearly was a smell of wood, and the buzz of saws and the knock-knock-knock of hammers. She felt and heard it as Impa opened a door to a balcony and led her outside. The sunlight hit her face like a wave of warmth, tempered by the chill of the crisp morning air.
She heard birds singing, and saw delicate new leaves on the trees and bushes. Looking about, there seemed to be people everywhere in the courtyard beneath her, most of them dressed like workers and carrying carpenter tools, or transporting bricks, planks and other building materials in wagons and wheelbarrows.
"There are many projects going on right now," Impa said behind her. "With this peace we can rebuild not just the castle but the town as well."
Zelda did not respond at first, only turned her head back and forth. Tried to make sense of the castle and the smaller buildings along the tall wall. Gazed beyond the fortification, saw rooftops and distant mountains covered with trees. When she looked north, she saw the landscape flatten out and pale. Could that possibly be a desert? Here?
There had never been a desert that close to Hyrule Castle. It couldn't be Gerudo Valley, it was in the wrong direction and the landscape didn't match.
And none of the mountains by the other horizon looked familiar either.
"This is… it's all— what… where…?"
She turned to Impa, desperate for an answer. The old woman's ever kind smile had fallen, and she watched Zelda with such pity and concern that a cold hand gripped the lost Princess' heart. Gently, Impa took her hand and brought her back inside, made her sit down on the first chair that could be found.
Then, Impa put her wrinkly hands on Zelda's shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"This is the new Hyrule," Impa said, her voice low and soft. "The one you knew is gone."
A buzz filled Zelda's head and everything spun around. For a moment the room faded before her eyes and she thought she might faint. Then Impa's arms closed around her, steadying her trembling form like an anchor. Struggling to breathe, Zelda clung to the old woman, heard her mumble soothingly but not able to understand a single word.
How long they remained like that, she did not know. But finally, slowly, her consciousness drifted back and she drew a shaky breath.
"How?" she whispered.
"Oh…"
Impa leaned back, stroking Zelda's cheek like a mother might.
"It was a sacrifice done to stop Ganon," Impa said, so impossibly calm. "Although all surviving Zoras, Gorons, even the Sheika and Gerudo united with our people and the Great Sages against his forces, it was not enough. With all hope lost, the goddesses answered the people's prayers and sank Hyrule into the ocean."
She fell silent, and Zelda needed some time to process it. Or begin to try processing it. She was not sure a lifetime would be enough to take it in properly.
"And then… this…" She made a vague motion at the room, indicating the world she had seen from the balcony.
"New lands, settled by all the survivors," Impa said. She straightened up as much as her back allowed her to, and pulled at Zelda's hands to make her stand. "Come, let me show you a map."
Zelda did not feel certain that she was ready for that, but the shock had sapped all strength left in her. She just followed along as Impa brought her to the castle library.
It was a large room, with comfortable chairs and several tables set about at tactical places. The windows reached all the way to the ceiling, their pointed tops made up of colored mosaics depicting the Triforce and Hyrule's winged crest.
Packed book shelves lined every wall, except the one in the far back. There a grand tapestry hung, depicting a stylized map of a grand peninsula, split by rivers in the middle south. To the east of the mainland were three islands of vastly different sizes.
None of it looked the least bit familiar to Zelda, but she understood the implication immediately. Numbly, she let Impa lead her over to it.
"Our ancestors made it here, with their other allies," Impa said and pointed at the castle depicted in the middle of the northern part of the land, surrounded by grasslands.
Zelda ran her gaze over the map, mind still blank and unwilling to take it all in. It was a piece of artwork, beautifully woven and embroidered with fine details on the landscape and landmarks – and plenty of unpleasant beasts depicted here and there too, as if to act as a warning. She recognized moblins and hideous octorocs amongst the trees and mountains, and several others as well. Yet there were many monsters she did not quite know, and she wasn't sure if that was because of the artist's rendition or because this new world had held previously unknown horrors.
"But Ganon did not disappear into the ocean," Impa said, her voice taking on a dark tone that sounded alien from her lips. "He returned, and the war began anew, for generations. After the King—"
"But the Hero?" Zelda interjected. "The Master Sword? The legends, the goddesses… they would send— when we needed…"
She faltered. Legends – fairytales, perhaps… she had seen the tragic end of that herself.
"Ah, yes…" Impa sighed. "There have been one or two great warriors who helped drive Ganon back, and gave the people some respite. But the Triforce of Courage was lost all this time, and the Master Sword…" She shook her head. "We only think he has it; we don't know for sure. Perhaps Link was the first true Hero, after all these years."
"He… mine…" Zelda closed her eyes. "He was named Link, too."
"Yes. A popular name."
Out of all the unbelievable things Impa had just told her, that one had a particular strangeness to it – and it hurt that it seemed so impossible.
"But he— we— he lost, and…"
She swallowed hard and motioned at the map.
"Even so, he was the first one who stood against Ganon," Impa said. "Not many could claim that feat." She took Zelda's hands and looked her in the eye, smiling warmly. "The tradition to name princesses 'Zelda' did not end, either. We remember those who gave their lives for others."
It should have made Zelda feel better. She might have, if she had been of sound mind. But she was still reeling, and all she felt was a hot, burning lump in her throat. She could not understand that there could possibly be forgiveness.
However, Impa took her silence as speechless gratitude and turned back to the tapestry.
"Some of the new settlements were named after the legendary Sages." Impa touched the map and pointed where she could not reach. "Ruto, Saria, Nabooru, Rauru, Darunia."
She gave a soft laugh.
"And a long line of Impas stayed with the royal family, ever loyal."
Zelda could not partake in the old lady's gentle mirth when each name was a dagger in her heart. She brushed her fingertips over the town that was portrayed within touching distance, Saria, perched on either side of a river north of what looked like a dark mountain. The rocky area had a jagged design and stylized monsters were embroidered all over it, snakes crawling in and out of black spots that must depict cave openings.
"Saria is the most fortified town in the land apart from the castle town," Impa said. Zelda heard her as if through water. "It's the outpost by Death Mountain, closest to Ganon's lands."
It seemed like a mockery to have a new Death Mountain, but even though Darunia was on the eastern island, perhaps the Gorons…?
Looking at the map, seeing clearly that the mountain was infested with monsters, Zelda did not dare to ask. She took in a deep breath to calm herself, searching for a different route of questions. They were countless, but she had to start somewhere. Beginning at the worst end, perhaps, would make the rest easier.
"You… keep calling him Ganon," she said. "But it was still Ganondorf? The Gerudo King?"
"We don't know that for certain," Impa said. "A moment."
She shuffled over to one of the bookshelves and ran her hand over the back of the tomes stored there. After a brief search she pulled one out and carried it to the nearest table.
"We know your story, yes," she said, the smile dropping from her face as she saw Zelda wince. "I'm sorry, dear girl."
Zelda shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself as she silently walked closer. Not only was she lost in this era, but her failure was an inerasable part of Hyrule's history now. Two hundred years of rising and falling war could be traced back to her time and here she was, a single living witness and key part to the start of all the pain.
She could not take in Impa's reassurances that she wasn't condemned by all. She herself could not forgive.
"Nobody is to blame, except this monster," Impa said in a firm voice as she flipped through the pages. She found what she sought and slapped her hand onto the book. "Look at this hideous thing!"
Her heart pounding, Zelda looked down.
The picture on the pale page was detailed, though not colored but only a pencil drawing. If it was completely realistic, or the artist's rendition, she did not know – it seemed unlikely that many Hylians would survive a meeting and be able to draw it later. Seeing it, she understood why Impa could not be certain that the enemy she knew was the same that had stood victorious two centuries ago.
Just closing her eyes Zelda could see that demonic, boar-like giant, but the creature in the book looked like a degenerated copy of that. Swathed in fine armor and clothes, yes, but more pig than boar, and he wielded a viciously barbed trident, not a sword. Also, the trees sketched around him indicated that he must be much shorter than he had been… that… time.
Still… the Triforce of Power shone on his hand, and his armor – though different – had a similar design.
"I… don't know," Zelda mumbled, touching the page carefully. "He isn't the same, but…"
Silence.
"He is dead," Impa said, drawing Zelda's full attention.
A flash of bitter triumph sparked up in the lost Princess' exhausted mind and she grasped Impa's hands.
"Tell me," she said, with more life in her voice than ever since she awakened.
They sat down, and Impa told her the story of the Queen and the Hero. Of how the Queen – then still the Princess – had led her troops, but been captured during a desperate assault on Ganon's stronghold. And how that Zelda, to save the Triforce of Wisdom from being stolen drew it out of herself and shattered it, sending the pieces in every direction to find hiding places. That had been an act of defiance rather than hope, as she could not send them very far.
But the little time she won turned out to be crucial, because then, finally, the Hero returned to Hyrule. Appearing as a mere young vagabond he cut and snuck his way past all obstacles to gather the Triforce back together and confront Ganon.
Zelda listened in silence. It was so familiar, all too familiar. But this tale ended differently, with the evil defeated and the kingdom saved.
"That was about a year ago," Impa said. Her smile remained, but it dipped and she gazed wistfully towards the windows. "The King was already sick… at least he got to see the Kingdom at peace before he passed."
For a moment neither one of them said anything. There were still so many questions whirling in Zelda's mind, but there was already so much – too much – to take in.
"And then, one day," Impa started again, "the Triforce symbol appeared on Link's hand. That was when I was certain he was the one. So I showed him your resting place, and he set out to find the final part of the Triforce to awaken you."
Zelda blinked, not sure she had heard that correctly.
"It wasn't in him?" she asked. "But the Queen, and Ganondo— Ganon had theirs, did they not?"
Seeing the Triforce as a physical thing was strange enough, but she had – somewhere deep down – simply assumed that they had used it to awaken her shortly after defeating Ganon. Then again, this was the first time she actually had a grasp of the time that had passed.
"That was the case with Wisdom and Power, yes, but…" Impa shook her head. "We don't know. The Triforce of Courage was held in a grand temple on the eastern island, filled with dark beings. Perhaps the Hero wasn't sent to aid us for so long, simply because Courage could not reach a champion."
Zelda nodded slowly. Certainly. Maybe. She did not know. She did not know anything anymore. Leaning her forehead in her palm, she tried to just stop thinking for a moment, give herself a breather.
There was a polite knock and they both looked up, seeing a servant by the door.
"Lady Impa, the Gerudo delegation from Nabooru has arrived," he said.
"Ah, yes!"
The old woman got up and touched Zelda's arm.
"Would you forgive me for a little while, dear?" Impa asked.
An unexpected rush of relief washed over Zelda. Only in that moment did she realize how badly she craved to be alone and try to piece together the torn shreds of her mind.
"Yes, I… I'll be fine," she said, smiling a little and hoping that it wasn't too obvious that she appreciated being left behind.
Nodding cheerfully, obviously not picking up on any of Zelda's chaotic emotions, Impa hurried off together with the servant.
Left to her own devices in the library, Zelda sat down for a moment, staring at the air. She stood up again just as quickly, moved over to the window. Stared outside for a few seconds without seeing, stepped away and over to the woven map on the wall. Attention wandering, she soon turned away from that as well.
Her eyes unfocused, trying to gather her thoughts, trying to recall.
She walked in circles, retracing her steps. Trying to figure out where everything fell apart.
The memories were blurred, as if her entire life had been a dream. Even the terror and pain of the final battle – her final days – slipped around inside her mind like wisps of smoke. It gave some dull comfort, to have even that horror seem like a distant nightmare.
And yet it was all wrong, and not even the relief of trauma being smothered by time could make it right.
Link and Ganondorf were there and the fire stretched across there…
Around and around.
She was here, when she should have been dead hundreds of years ago. Like all of the others. It shouldn't have been like this.
They should have won.
She stood there… could barely see past the flames, just a few glimpses of green. Ganondorf's monstrous form moving back and forth, roar making her entire body rattle, so hard to stand…
It shouldn't have been like this.
Around and around.
It shouldn't have been like this, so where exactly did everything go wrong?
Where had they failed?
She closed her eyes, and in her memory she saw a giant, dark paw swing, heard a cry of pain and shock, saw a silvery flash of metal. The Master Sword flew through the air over the wall of flames. Link was trapped there, with Ganondorf towering over him and the holy blade out of reach.
She rushed forwards, had to reach it, had to get it back to him— the flames rose up, heat burned her face, skirt catching fire and she recoiled— she recoiled—
The shadow of the paw fell, and the ground trembled with Ganondorf's victorious roar.
Zelda clutched her stomach, nausea making her dizzy.
Yes.
That was where she failed.
That was why they had lost.
She staggered over to the window, leaned heavily against the wall.
Why was she here? Why had she been spared?
Struggled to think back. The last thing… the very last thing was Ganondorf, no longer that monster, but smirking, and she was in chains and— and— he raised his hand, darkness flared and… nothing.
It made no sense. In all this madness, this entire new existence where she had no place, no reason, where the world has been forced into rebirth… all that was chaos, but her life was a mystery. Why had he not killed her?
Did it matter?
How long she stood there, pressing a hand over her eyes, she did not know.
When she eventually straightened up and turned away from the window, she gave a start – realizing she was not alone. A young woman – her age – wearing a finely embroidered dress and a tiara, both of them emblazoned with Hyrule's crest, stood by the door.
Zelda struggled to think of something – anything – to say. What should a relic of the past say to the present?
She had not seen the Queen at all ever since she first woke up. The only one she had spoken to this whole time, really, had been Impa. Back then, she had been in a daze and never gotten close enough to the Queen to have a proper look at her.
They were about the same height and muscle – yes, she too had fought – but the Queen's hair had a darker, strawberry blonde hue. Her most prominent feature, however, was the scar on her face. Two uneven lines traced down the Queen's left jaw, just barely grazing the base of her ear. It stood in stark contrast to the rest of her appearance.
The wound that left that mark must have been horribly painful.
Zelda did not mean to fixate on it, but it certainly did not help her veering mind figure out something to say – she certainly could not bring that up.
But the Queen could.
"Shall we compare scars?" she asked, with a wry but friendly smile.